For those of you who use social media, you are likely aware of the Timehop feature on Facebook.
I recently got a Timehop photo that took me back a year ago when my family and I bought our Newton home and posted up for what we hope is a long future in the community.
One year after leaving our first home in Des Moines, the family is happy as could be.
I am happy that I no longer have to drive 40 minutes and to and from work from the middle of Des Moines. I enjoy being able to need only 5-10 minutes to get across town.
Aubrey has finished her first year of preschool. We wanted to be in a community like Newton before she started school so we are very thankful things worked out for us before that happened.
She enjoyed her first year here. She went to preschool twice a week, attended a speech class on Mondays and took part in story time with Dad on Thursdays. It’s been a fun year for us. And she’s talking more and more and brings a certain spunk to the table every day.
After spending nine years as a special education teacher in the Urbandale school district, my wife finished up her first year as an elementary teacher at Thomas Jefferson last week.
Her summer is less than a week in, but it was a solid first year for her. She’ll get a new principal in her second year, but she’ll adapt. It’s something she has gotten used to while working for the Urbandale school district.
It seems like just yesterday that we signed the papers and moved into our new home. We joke every day about it not feeling real even today. But we are getting used to the new life. Our pets are enjoying their split-level home, too.
I knew our area softball teams had a chance to be really good this year.
All five schools brought back enough talent to compete in their respective leagues. But the group appears to be even better than I thought.
After solid playoff runs last year and with so many key returners, I expected Collins-Maxwell/Baxter and Colfax-Mingo to be in the rankings to start the year.
Prairie City-Monroe has eight seniors. The Mustangs look really good right now and in the driver’s seat for the Heart of Iowa Conference title after one rotation. The two best teams are no doubt PCM and CMB. That rematch in Monroe on June 19 will be fun.
Colfax-Mingo has had an up and down start. But the Tigerhawks play a tough schedule, and the South Iowa Cedar League is loaded with top-end talent. Three teams are currently ranked and Lynnville-Sully, another area school, probably will be before too long.
Newton has shown it can compete with the best teams when it defeated Class 4A No. 1 Oskaloosa on Monday.
Tally up the record for our five area softball teams and you’ll get 42-17.
Entering the season, I thought CMB and Colfax-Mingo had pretty good shots to make the state tournament in 2A and 1A, respectively. But after two weeks, PCM looks like it could be a state contender in 3A and Newton could make a run in 4A.
The brackets aren’t out yet, but Colfax-Mingo and Lynnville-Sully may be in each other’s path for the state tournament. The Tigerhawks eliminated the Hawks last year, but L-S has been a consistent participant in Fort Dodge the past five seasons.
With no more spring events to cover, I am full steam ahead on baseball and softball. Let’s buckle up for what should be a fun ride this summer.
Contact Troy Hyde
at thyde@newtondailynews.com